Gabriela Gierłowska has been involved in amber for over 40 years. She ran her own manufacturing and conservation workshop. She is an expert of the International Association of Amber Collectors (expert on amber raw material, expert on amber natural specimens, expert on semi-finished products and amber products), an expert of the Pomeranian Provincial Trade Inspection (in the field of amber products, jewelry made with amber, and material expertise of raw amber), and a court expert in the field of amber. She has been associated with the MSB from the very beginning, not only as a founding member, but also as an active activist, serving, among other things, as Secretary of the MSB Expert Commission, Secretary of the MSB Collegial Court. For one term, she was a member of the MSB Board. Currently, she is the deputy chairman of the MSB Audit Commission. In 2012, Gabriela Gierłowska was honored as a sign of recognition and appreciation for her commitment to promoting Baltic amber and the City of Gdańsk as the World Amber Capital. Medal of the President of Gdańsk, Paweł Adamowicz.
Gabriela Gierłowska is active in publishing activities. Her published works include both monographic articles, articles in the industry press, and reports at national and international conferences. The topics of her work address not only issues related to amber mining, its origin, properties, and the role it plays in culture and science. Gabriela Gierłowska’s work also demonstrates a vast knowledge of imitating Baltic amber. Her activity and achievements are noticeable in a wide range of forums, including international ones. Gabriela Gierłowska is the author of a number of professional and reliable articles published on the generally accessible portal amber.com.pl – an area that particularly emphasizes her popularization activities.
Gabriela Gierłowska's collecting activity is spectacular. „Gierlowski Collection” It is a collection of over 10,000 objects, including collections of amber ore, natural forms, colored varieties, inclusions in amber, semi-finished products made of amber, semi-finished products and products made of pressed amber, works of art from the author’s studio and from Wiesława Gierłowska, works by artists, and old and contemporary products. „Gierłowska Collection” is, however, not only a succinite collection. The collections of Gabriela Gierłowska also include fossil and subfossil fossils from almost all parts of the world. Gierłowska also created a unique collection in the scale of the country – if not the world! – of imitations of succinite. This is a review of almost all types of substances that were and are currently used as imitations of Baltic amber.
Gierłowska’s collections constitute not only a collector’s item with artistic and educational value. The contemporary amber market is a constant struggle with ever more sophisticated imitations. Gabriella Gierłowska’s collection is a professional, well-documented collection of standard substances. Reliable patterns are the foundation for reliable and unambiguous identification of amber and other natural resins, as well as widely-used imitations. The collection therefore has primarily scientific value. Not without reason, this collection is used annually at the AMBERIF and AMBERMART fairs as the basis for the work of the Amber Laboratory.
The Amber Gem of the Year is not only the person and her achievements. It is, first and foremost, the Personality that you are, Ms. Gabriela Gierłowska, for sure.
The title of Amber Gem of the Year is awarded for outstanding achievements in the fields of artistic creativity, scientific research and popularization of amber knowledge, technological progress, economic efficiency, social work among amber enthusiasts, collection of natural objects and amber relics. It is awarded by the Chapter, which includes Amber Gemologists of the Century: Prof. Dr. Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz and Wiesław Gierłowski, as well as Amber Gemologists of the years 1999-2012: Mariusz Drapikowski (1999), Kazimieras Mizgiris (2001), Ewa Rachoń (2002), Adam Pstrągowski (2003), Wojciech Kalandyk (2004), Marek Gutowski (2005), Andrzej Wiszniewski (2006)., Dr. Elżbieta Sontag (2007), Dr. Regina Kramarska (2008), dr hab. Sławomir Fijałkowski (2009), Anna Sado (2010), Lucjan Myrta (2011), Mariusz Gliwiński and Tomasz Mikołajczyk (2012).